Dr. Forrest E Harris, Sr. is the new President of American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition, he is the Director of the Kelly Miller Smith institute on African American Church Studies and Assistant Dean for African American Church Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. As Assistant Professor for the Practice of Ministry at Vanderbilt, Dr. Harris teaches courses in the area of Church Community and the Theology of Ministry in the Black Church tradition.
Dr. Harris holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from Knoxville College, a Bachelor of Theology (Th.B.) degree from American Baptist College, Master of Divinity (M. Div.) and Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.) degrees from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, where he was a Benjamin E Mays Fellow and recipient of the Florence Conwell prize for preaching.
Since 1988, Dr. Harris has been a member of the faculty and the Director of the Kelly Miller Smith Institute on the Black Church at Vanderbilt Divinity School, which now has a 1.2 million dollar endowment. Through the institute at Vanderbilt, and with grants from the Lilly Endowment and the Pew Charitable Trusts totaling over 1.3 million dollars, Dr. Harris coordinated a national ecumenical dialogue on “What Does It Mean to be Black and Christian?” Over 12,000 people participated in this national discussion resulting in the publication of two - What Does It Mean to be Black and Christian? Pulpit, Pew and Academy in Dialogue, Townsend Press, 1995; and What Does It Mean to Be Black and Christian? The Meaning of the African American Church.
Dr. Harris is a member of the 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, and life member of the NAACP. He is married to Jacqueline Borom Harris, and they have four children: Kara, a mechanical engineer, the Proctor and Gamble Company, Elliot, Jr., senior, University of Memphis; Morgan and Alexis, high school students.
Forest Harris is featured in the FAITHANDREASON® Studio Series Volume Two and Volume Three, “Whom Did Jesus Exclude From The Church?”, “Does God Use Us?”, “Is It Right With God That We Suffer?”, “Don’t I Have A Right To My Personal Rights?”
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/divinity/kmsi/dr.htm
Scholars
- Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts
- Rabbi Harold Kushner
- Rabbi Camille Angel
- John Dominic Crossan
- Joan Chittister, OSB
- Fr. Richard Rohr
- Dr. William Mallard
- Dr. Walter Wink
- Dr. Walter Brueggemann
- Dr. Tex Sample
- Dr. Rebekah Miles
- Dr. Phyllis Tickle
- Dr. Martin Marty
- Dr. Marcus Borg
- Dr. Leonard Sweet
- Dr. John Holbert
- Dr. Joerg Rieger
- Dr. Forrest Harris
- Dr. Elaine Pagels
- Dr. Darby Ray
- Dr. Craig Evans
- Dr. Amy Jill Levine
- Bishop John Shelby Spong (retired)